BEAUTIFUL VIEW

BEHAVIOR

It provides the muscle to move the wipers back and forth across the

windshield.

HABITAT

The wiper motor is mounted on the top of the firewall at the back of

the engine compartment.

HOW IT WORKS

This is a high-torque electric motor supplied with power from the battery.

When you turn on the wipers, the motor converts electric energy into rotary mechanical energy. The output of the motor turns a worm gear, which looks like a spiral of metal wrapped around a metal rod.

Worm gears are fundamentally different from other gears in several ways. They can radically increase the turning power or torque, which is useful in applications such as windshield wipers. And they change the

direction of rotation. In the windshield wiper the worm gear changes the direction of the motor shaft’s rotation 90 degrees.

The worm gear meshes with another gear. This arrangement decreases the speed of the motor’s rotation and increases again the torque. This second gear shares its axle with a cam or crank. These devices change the motion from rotary motion produced by the motor to the back-and-forth motion of the wipers. The cam or crank connects to a rod that drives the driver’s wiper and to another rod that drives the passenger’s side wiper.

The wiper motor is a direct current motor; its speed is governed by the voltage it receives. So to change the speed of the wipers, different voltages (up to 13 volts maximum) are fed to the motors.

Wiper motors have a park feature. When you turn the wipers off, they continue wiping, but stop in their normal rest or park position. To get the wipers to return to their park position when you shut them off,

the motor has two additional electrical contacts. A circuit feeds power to them after you have cut power by switching off the wipers.

INTERESTING FACTS

Before electric motors were used to drive windshield wipers, the engine’s vacuum pressure supplied the power. This meant that the wipers went faster when the engine went faster. Going up a steep hill reduced the speed of the windshield wipers. Electric motors replaced the vacuum pressure wipers starting in 1926.

A field guide to automotive technology

Ed Sobey

Cover and interior design: Joan Sommers

Photo on page 28: © Smokey Combs

© 2009 by Ed Sobey

All rights reserved

Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN: 978-1-55652-812-5

Printed in the United States of America

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The lost foam process uses a polystyrene foam having the same shape as

that of the object to be cast. In normal sand casting, molten aluminum is

poured into a cavity formed with bonded sand. In the lost foam process, the

foam pattern made of polystyrene is embedded into unbonded sand. During

pouring, the polystyrene foam pattern left in the sand is decomposed by

molten metal. The casting traces the polystyrene shape.

The foam pattern must be produced for every casting made. This process

starts with the pre-expansion of polystyrene beads, which contain pentane as a blowing agent. The pre-expanded beads are blown into a mold to form pattern sections. A steam cycle causes the beads to fully expand and fuse together in the mold. After cooling, the molded foam sections are assembled with glue, forming a cluster. The gating system (the passage liquid metal flows through) is also attached in a similar manner. Next the foam cluster is covered with a ceramic coating. The coating forms a barrier so that the molten metal does not penetrate or cause sand erosion during pouring. The coating also helps protect the structural integrity of the casting. After the coating dries, the cluster is placed into a flask and backed up with sand. Mold compaction is then achieved by using a vibration table to ensure uniform and proper compaction. Once this procedure is complete, the cluster is packed in the flask and the mold is ready to be poured. The molten metal replaces the foam, precisely duplicating all of the features of the pattern.

Vehicle engine maintenance rather than merely changing the oil, check the radiator, and submit it to the garage when damaged. Daily treatment given appropriate to the machine can be made ​​to avoid the various problems that should not happen, so the engine is not quickly broken. Some simple things you can do so is not easily damaged machine is as follows.

Before using the car, you must heat up the engine. Not just any heating, but heating is done properly. Let the machine you are working without a load for a while, so that lubricating oil can flow to every part of the machine that require. Accepted the burden of a sudden the engine would result in the engine lubricating oil to work before reaching any part of the machine that needs to be lubricated. When the surface of machine parts that rub against each other is allowed to work without a perfectly lubricated, the engine will be quickly worn.

Another thing to consider is the custom to put the foot on the clutch pedal. This habit will lead to pressure pads and clutch plates become damaged quickly. In addition, the clutch pedal is too often trampled upon at the time that is not necessary to make the clutch slip.

Avoiding sudden actions at the time of acceleration, deflection, and braking - except in emergencies - also helps the engine to keep it vibrant. When occasional, sudden action would result in the process of wear and tear takes place too quickly to engine parts, especially tires. Sudden action also makes machine loose connections. Moreover, when viewed in terms of safety, sudden action should not be done if not in an emergency. [Erf / arch]

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BEHAVIOR

When teaching your children to drive a car, your feet keep reaching for the pedal to activate these. Brakes sap kinetic energy from the moving wheels and convert it into heat. Most would say they slow and stop a car.

HABITAT

Brakes are found either riding above the disc (as in disc brakes) or

inside the wheel (drum brakes).

HOW IT WORKS

Disc brakes pinch the disc to slow its motion. Hydraulic fluid is forced

from the brake cylinder when you push on the brake pedal. The increased pressure in the brake line forces brake pads on both sides of the disc to squeeze toward each other. The friction of the pads on the discs converts rotary motion into heat. The brake is exposed to air so the heat can dissipate, keeping the brake relatively cool. The pads and  cylinders are held above the wheel by the caliper. As the pads wear,

they expose a thin piece of metal that rubs against the disc, making that squealing sound that warns you to have them checked.

With drum brakes, often used for the rear wheels, the friction is applied inside the brake drum. Two hydraulic cylinders push the brake lining outward to rub against the drum, which is attached to the wheel. Springs pull the lining away from the drum when you release the brake. Since drum brakes are surrounded by the rest of the wheel, the heat they generate can build up and make the brakes less effective.

INTERESTING FACTS

Both disc and drum brakes were invented in 1902. Louis Renault, the engineering brother of the trio who founded the Renault car company, invented drum brakes, hydraulic shock absorbers, and the turbocharger.

Englishman Frederick Lanchester, a giant in car engineering and inventing, invented disc brakes.

A field guide to automotive technology

Ed Sobey

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At a meeting of a car club, a friend proudly showed his car temperature needle that indicates the position of a quarter, while in general for the same car should show half position. He considers the engine cooling system on the car works well and will be free from the problem of overheating. Meanwhile there is also a friend who just pull the thermostat from the engine for fear of overheating problems happen again.

Both of the above it also occurs in many other brands of cars, especially European cars. What negative impact for the car?

Car engines work optimally at temperatures high enough (about 93 º C). If the machine is working at low temperature will make a rapid engine components were damaged, detonation, create pollution and wasteful of fuel.

For that most important thing done by all produksen cars are made so that the engine temperature immediately reaches its temperature and keeping it constant (stable).

In addition to the ideal engine working temperature, for the complete combustion process, it takes a mixture of gasoline and air are right.

The composition of gasoline and air mixture is often called the Air-Fuel Ratio (AFR).

Ideally worth 14.7 AFR. This means that the mixture consists of a grain of gasoline versus 14.7 grains of air or called by the term Stoichiometry.

In cold conditions, the engine requires more fuel (richer AFR) and the spin machine needs to be made higher in order to work properly and not shaking (coldstall).

When the engine reaches the ideal working temperature re-created nearly ideal AFR (AFR = 14.7).

Machines that still use carburetors, AFR setting process carried out through an automatic choke and choke and temperature using a vacuum solenoid vacuum valve.

At the injection machine, setting AFR performed by the ECU (Engine Control Unit - engine control computer) based on the reference water temperature sensor on the engine block (Coolant Temperature Sensor) to set the ECU then rev the engine and sprayed gasoline injector discharge.

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BEHAVIOR

Drives nimbly over snow and other soft surfaces that would defeat a wheeled vehicle.

HABITAT

Seen grooming ski slopes and hauling people and equipment in polar regions. A mainstay for ground-based polar research.

HOW IT WORKS

There are many variations of the basic design. Tucker Sno-Cats use

four sets of tread, while other manufacturers use two. The front two

tracks provide steering on the Tuckers. Two-belt models typically use

brakes to steer: the driver applies the brake to the side that he wants to turn toward.

Wide rubber belts are mounted on a fiberglass housing or on a series of pulleys that guide and tension the belt. The belts spread the load (upward of a couple of tons) over a large area so the pressure exerted on the surface is less than a pound per square inch. A drive sprocket coming from the transmission drives the belts.

INTERESTING FACTS

When Sir Vivian Fuchs led the first expedition to cross Antarctica (1957–58), he used four Tucker Sno-Cats. The machines ran at temperatures down to –70° F and gobbled gas at 1.5 miles per gallon while hauling sleds behind them. The first motorized sled was patented in 1916 by Ray H. Muscott, #1188981. Muscott’s model used skis on the front and tracks on the back.

A field guide to automotive technology

Ed Sobey

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You've upset with the performance of your car engine? If yes, then from now you should be more concerned. For more diligent care, the possibility of car crashes in the middle of the road is also small.

Caring for the car is tricky. But if you are patient and have discipline, you can do it yourself, do not always have to be fully handed over to the mechanic.

There are several things that must be examined and considered in conducting their own care. First, you must diligently examine it carefully grease (oil) engine. The trick, pull the oil stick. Make sure the oil is at full mark.

If the oil is less, can be added up to a full mark. Not only that, the oil could be due to reduced oil leaks. For a time that you also look down. If there is seepage of oil, means that there are components that are damaged.

Screening also can be done by looking at the floor, where the car was parked. If there no trace of oil, then do not let the condition persist.

The next step feel with your fingers the oil viscosity. If it still looks clear and thick, do not rush to change the oil even if the distance exceeds 5,000 km. Conversely, if it looks watery and cloudy, oil immediately replaced with new ones, although the distance is still less than 5,000 km.

It can be caused by a jammed traffic conditions. So even though the car in the condition of stationary or moving slowly, but the engine continued to burn.

Do not forget to replace the oil filter. Replacement can be done every two times to change the engine oil or depending on the condition of your car.

After the oil affairs in order, beralihkan into water cooling radiator. Also make sure the water is always at the full rate (full). When reduced, immediately add. If it runs out of water, then the engine temperature can be high, the car was crashed.

If the above methods you may have applied, at least, reduced the risk of car crashes. You can waltz on the road with ease.

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